Dozens of Republicans in the US Congress have called for an investigation into Australian lamb imports to determine if they should be hit with higher tariffs.<\/p>\n
The Republicans, from both houses of Congress, have written to US President Donald Trump’s top trade official in support of sheep-farmer lobbyists who want trade measures to shield American producers from Australian competition. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Several Republicans have meanwhile sponsored a bill to put a 30 per cent tariff on all lamb and sheep products from Australia and New Zealand, including wool.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The letters were sent and the bill was introduced before last week’s Supreme Court ruling invalidated many of Mr Trump’s tariffs<\/a>, which were brought in under “emergency” legislation.<\/p>\n But Republicans are calling for action via two different routes: either by passing a new law, or using a section of existing trade law unrelated to the court ruling.<\/p>\n One of the letters<\/a> to US Trade Representative (USTR) Jamieson Greer, dated January 15 and signed by 29 members of Congress, says:<\/p>\n “Our foreign competitors, particularly Australia and New Zealand, have consistently taken advantage of our relaxed barriers and used them to undercut and infiltrate the US lamb market.<\/p>\n “They have abused imports and suffocated our sheep producers for far too long.”<\/p>\n A similar letter<\/a>, signed by seven senators and dated January 9, also singles out Australian and New Zealand imports. It urges Mr Greer to use “all available measures” to support American sheep producers.<\/p>\n Both letters call for a “global safeguard investigation” to be carried out under sections 201 and 202 of the US Trade Act.\u00a0<\/p>\n Section 201 authorises the president to impose tariffs if an investigation finds imports are causing, or threatening to cause, “substantial injury” to a domestic industry.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Trump used Section 201 in his first term to put quota-triggered tariffs on imported solar cells and washing machines.<\/p>\n American appetite for Australian lamb<\/p>\n Sheep Producers Australia describes the US as “one of Australia’s most significant markets for lamb”.\u00a0<\/p>\n The US is the second-largest export destination for Australian sheep meat, according to Meat and Livestock Australia, with government figures valuing exports to the United States last year at $1.6 billion.<\/p>\n Take-down of Trump’s tariffs explained<\/a><\/p>\n The ruling on tariffs is a hugely consequential decision that has infuriated the president, who is now looking for workarounds.<\/p>\n The bill for a 30 per cent tariff, introduced by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, has been referred to a House of Representatives committee for consideration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Amodei announced his retirement from Congress earlier this month, a week after the bill’s introduction, and has been unavailable for interview despite multiple requests.<\/p>\n His two-page bill says “the president shall impose a 30 per cent duty on each sheep product and lamb product originating from Australia or New Zealand” within 30 days of the bill’s enactment.\u00a0<\/p>\n The tariff would be “in addition to each other applicable duty”, meaning it would rise to 40 per cent when combined with the 10 per cent global tariff already on Australian imports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Utah Republicans Celeste Maloy and Burgess Owens have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year, the pair wrote to Mr Greer and US International Trade Commission chair Amy Karpel to express “grave concern over the looming and potentially catastrophic collapse of the domestic sheep industry”.<\/p>\n Their letter<\/a> requested the USTR to negotiate or impose a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) on lamb meat imports from Australia and New Zealand.\u00a0<\/p>\n A TRQ is essentially a limit on imports of a product. After that limit is reached, any additional imports become subject to a tariff.<\/p>\n Tariffs counter to Trump’s prices push<\/p>\n The campaign for a TRQ on Australian and New Zealand sheep products predates Mr Trump’s return to the presidency and the subsequent controversy over his protectionist trade measures.<\/p>\n In 2023, the farmer lobby group R-CALF USA made a similar request to the office of the USTR<\/a>.<\/p>\n But the proposal to tariff imported lamb could come into conflict with Mr Trump’s stated aim to push down grocery prices in the US.<\/p>\n In November, under pressure to address cost-of-living issues, he removed tariffs from a range of food imports less than a year after implementing them.<\/p>\n Those food products remain exempt under the temporary 10 per cent global tariff introduced by Mr Trump after the court ruling.<\/p>\n Beef is exempt from the 10 per cent tariff, but lamb is not.<\/p>\n Australian beef exports to the US increased<\/a> last year, even when the tariff was in place.<\/p>\n